Hi! I’m Emily, the founder of Jex Shoes – nice to meet you! This is the first Jex blog so I thought I’d tell you a little bit about our story so far…
After many years of working in public sector purchasing, I wanted a change of pace and for my work to fit around the kids and family life. I took a job at a local school and in my spare time I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours trawling the internet and magazines for inspirational ideas to start my own business. I wanted to find something that not only got me excited, but would also allow me to use my skills. Then, one Sunday morning, I suddenly had an idea – it was literally one of those cartoon light bulb moments – to create a unique range of shoes for girls!
So, I had finally found THE idea and set about my research. Twelve months on and several hundred more hours work later, I still couldn’t find anyone who could manufacture exactly what I wanted. However, I did have another idea for a truly different and unique range of shoes: Jex. I ordered some samples to test out my idea and ran it past my friends and family who loved them! So, I decided to give it a shot and started speaking with talented designers and shoe-makers to assemble a team to help bring my dream to life.
It has then taken us another eight months to create our designs and develop the shoes so that we have a product we’re really proud of. Honestly, it’s not always been easy and there have been plenty of times when I almost gave up – and I would have, had it not been for the help and support of some great friends and family. Sometimes turning my ideas (which were often vague and off the wall!) into something that people would actually want has been tricky but we persevered and now we have some shoes that I love and am sure others will too!
Jex is all about allowing kids to have fun in everything they do. It’s about taking something and making it your own. I sadly missed out on the creative gene; I can’t draw, I’m not good with colours and even now as a mature adult, I still struggle to stay in the lines when colouring! But even I can make these shoes look good – and they represent ME, which I love! As we all know, no two kids are the same so let’s allow kids to be unique and embrace their individuality.
So, that’s the Jex story so far and what we’re all about. We’re very proud of our shoes and hope you’ll love them as much as we do.